Pages

Monday, 15 December 2014

MadDad doesn't always have a lot of spare time. He works really hard and also spends time with the boys, but this year inspired by Worx he spent a couple of hours in the garden yesterday making the boys a pair of stilts.

He was sent a selection of power tools and then went out and bought some wood and rope and had some real fun for a couple of hours.

He was so impressed with the tools, that he went out and bought the drill himself and then a mini circular saw for his Dad for Christmas (Hope you are not reading this FIL)!

The MiniMads were delighted with their stilts (of sorts) and even took them round their friends, who now want MadDad to make them some!

Although MadDad is a mild mannered accountant by day he really enjoys tinkering when he isn't under pressure and these tools really made it a pleasure for him.

Why not have a look at making something yourself, there are some great how to videos.

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Holidays, they are so different now we have kids to what they were like before we had kids! But as the boys are getting older I know that we would love to put a Mark Warner holiday to the test, especially as my boys are so active. IngredientsOne hard-working office professional DadOne ever working MumOne early rising sports man nine year old over achieverOne night-owl book loving eight year oldMethodOften we hope for a one pot cooking method where we could just throw all the ingredients and their clothing in to a plane and come out the other end perfectly cooked, but actually finding a holiday that suits us all is hard.MadDad - hates sitting by a pool with a book, which I LOVE!Maxi would spend all day every day either in or around water and is ultra competitive, even getting in your swimming costume first is a "thing"Mini finds switching off at the end of the evening hard, but he likes to try to keep up with his brother.Me - Well I like not having to do all the cooking, cleaning, organising and everything else that I am responsible for at home. EXPERIENCES BRING MORE HAPPINESS THAN THINGSSince becoming a family we have all learned that we get longer lasting happiness by experiencing new things as a family and spending quality time together. We love to challenge each other and have fun. The boys are adventurous eaters and prefer to eat off the adult menu than go anywhere near a chicken nugget!

Just look at our before and after analysis

Before Children

With Children

Location

South Africa

Henley on Thames

Transport

Airplane

Car with car seats and sick bags

Luggage

A case and small bag

A car stuffed full to the gills

Accommodation

Hotel

Tent

Breakfast

Leisurely and taken at hotel

Cooked on a BBQ at 7am

Must haves

Good books and sun cream

Baby wipes, games, sun cream and clean loos

Lunch

People watching in a café

Sandwiches or MacDonald’s

Dinner

Candlelit evening meal with husband accompanied with wine

Cooked on a camping stove and washed in a communal sink accompanied with lots of wine for the adults

PaidShop.com isn't just a cashback site, it is much more
than that. The website features flash sales, allows you to check the
latest sale items with all major UK retailers and search for voucher codes for
favourite shops.

So you can use PaidShop.com to search for voucher codes to
save you money on your purchase, but you can ALSO get cashback on your
purchase.

Paidshop.com actually rewards you on a number of levels:

Cashback on your
purchases (you get 100% of the commission)

Voucher codes saving you
money on your purchases

Price comparison tool to
help you chose the best value option

Flash Sales

Rewarded for
life for introductions and referrals – for every friend that joins up, you
earn 5% of their cash back without even lifting a finger. PaidShop.com is
unique in this as it has no expiry date which means you’ll keep earning
additional cash back as long as you and your friends continue using the
site

It seems too good to be true, but the fact is PaidShop.com
is free, so you can try
PaidShop.com out for nothing and see if it works for you.

One thing I try to do is make my money work smarter and
PaidShop.com is one of those ways. It adds very little time on to a
shopping experience and if there is any way I can save money, coupled by being
rewarded by making essential purchases that I would buy regardless, well that
is a good thing to me.

Thursday, 11 December 2014

There is something about Christmas coming that makes me want to clean up the house. It might be all the twinkly lights, but I think that it really is something to do with people coming to visit that shames me in to it!

Sunday, 7 December 2014

One of my bugbears as a parent is clothing. I want my boys to be boys, not minimen and also I don't want them to dress in the same things that other people do. I also NEED their clothes to last.

We have tried supermarket clothes and other than uniform I am going to admit that I don't really rate any of it. In fact we tend to shop in the sales for premium clothing, but that often lasts through both the boys and then my BF's three younger boys. I love seeing her three year old in clothes that have been worn by five (yes FIVE other boys) and they still look ace.

So, when I was informed about a new site selling premium children’s clothes at bargain prices, I was really interested.

Flash-Price are the new kids on the block and they are in their infancy, currently 9only stocking boys and men, but there are plans to stock a lot more in the future.

So to get people interested and keep them informed if you sign up for the Flash/Price Newsletter there is free Hack T Shirt with an RRP of £29.99 (whilst stocks last) as an incentive.

Another fab offer they have at the moment is buy a pair of Urban Logik boots and get a free Beck and Hersey backpack (RRP £19.99).

Monday, 1 December 2014

The boys were challenged by House of Fraser to find the perfect ending for their Frazer Bear's story. The original nide was that they would draw the end, but alas my boys are eight and nine and had other ideas!

He then decided to put Baby Bear in the Freezer as the fridge only was 5 degrees and not cold enough to make snow

So Frazer Bear decided to make his own snow to show Baby Bear.........

It was so much like snow you could even make snow balls with it.............

So if you want to make some snow, we decided to share the ingredients with you. You can even make it cold by putting in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Recipe to make your own Snow Dough

2 cups corn flour

1/3 to 1/2 of a cup baby oil

This is so simple to do. The boys added the ingredients in a large bowl and mixed them together and then tickled them (like rubing in flour and butter). The snow is ready when it is crumbly but also crunches together in your hands like real snow and your can make snowballs with it.

Note: If you are making this for a child that will pop it in their mouth then exchange the baby oil for a light coloured food oil such as grapeseed oil.

The boys have been playing with our Snow Dough for the last week and have really loved it. It is an amazing texture and Mini decided to build an igloo and that it was Hoth!

It would make an amazing base for a Frozen World for playing in and you could even add iridescent glitter.

I am sure that this dough will keep for at least a month or so when made with Baby oil, so we will be using any of the remains to make Father Christmas footprints in on Christmas Eve.

Disclosure: House of Fraser sent the boys some toys for Christmas in exchange for this blog post.